“Mujeres Making Movies”

… Chica Luna’s signature program has become the F-Word, a multimedia justice project in New York City for 16-25-year-olds across the racial, sexual, economic, and linguistic spectrum. For five months, the young women learn about screenwriting, directing, producing, cinematography, editing, and working with actors, as well as media activism, including challenging one-dimensional depictions of their communities. They also write, direct, and edit their own short films, some of which are showcased at Chica Luna’s annual short film festival.

The”f-word,”of course, is feminism. Miranda, a 38-year-old Puerto Rican, recounts being told by a student:”I ain’t a feminist:feminists are white women.”Part of the F-Word’s purpose is to re-imagine feminism by boosting media literacy skills and sisterhood among the participants. For example, instructors point out the internalized sexism dramatized when women compete for a man in a film. They also urge students to pay attention to who gets the most camera time and why, and to watch for caricatures like”the hot tamale Latina”and”the angry Black woman.” …